  Cetacean Watch is the new initiative launched by Falklands Conservation in October 2004 to try and get a better idea of which whale and dolphin (cetaceans) species occur in Falkland waters, and to attempt to get a feel for their abundance and distribution.
The Falkland Islands are steeped in history surrounding whales and dolphins, being a key location for whaling in the early 1900’s. Since the cessation of whaling and particularly over the past 30 years, there is anecdotal information to suggest that cetacean numbers in Falkland waters are back on the increase. Killer whales are annual visitors and regularly seen off the coast of Sea Lion Island during the months of October through to February, Commerson’s and Peale’s dolphin are both known to be resident throughout the year in the coastal waters and, earlier this year, a pod of 12 Sei whale stayed in Berkeley Sound for nearly 4 weeks. These and other sightings, together with the Falklands geographic location between the rich feeding grounds of the Antarctic and the breeding grounds of the tropic’s, makes the Falkland Islands a key place to record and monitor cetacean distribution, abundance and movements.
The collation of information on abundance and distribution of whales and dolphins is valuable in many ways. Besides increasing our general knowledge of the cetacean fauna that inhabits Falkland waters, it can also inform of important areas and times of year for particular species enabling better decision making on the risk of harm to local populations from certain human activities i.e. fishing, aquaculture, oil exploration. It may also indicate where dedicated research should be directed, or draw attention to possible status changes on a local or wider basis.
Cetacean Watch is the first attempt in the Falkland Islands to systematically record cetacean sightings and monitor resident populations, and relies totally on the support and dedication of volunteers. There are two ways in which information is recorded. Firstly, the ‘Cetacean Sighting Recording Form’ can be used by anyone, at anytime to record details of any whales or dolphins sighted, whether from a chance observation or during a timed watch (i.e. you sat and watched them for 30mins.). The sightings form records information such as species, numbers, behaviour, description and climate and sea conditions. It is essential that you provide your name, address, date and location of sighting and the species seen. The more information you can provide the better but it is not necessary to record everything on the form.
Secondly, for those people interested in their local dolphins and who are prepared to spend a few hours of observation each month at one strategic location, there is an ‘Effort Recording Form’. This form differs in that the observer is required to record absence as well as presence every 15 minutes, preferably for a period of 2 hours or more. From the start of each 15 minute period, the observer scans the sea and summaries information on climate and sea conditions, species, number and behaviour. Effort recording is critical to ascertaining rises and falls in population size, as only by recording the total effort spent watching animals, present or not, can we determine whether the absence of dolphins or whales at a particular time of year or in a given year, is because the animals have gone and not because, there was no one there recording. Effort recording has started at Bertha’s Beach and ideally, we would like to have observers spread throughout the Falklands using the effort recording forms, particularly at locations such as Surf Bay, Roy Cove, Port Howard, Bull Point and the outer islands.
If you are interested in sharing your observations of whales and dolphins and hence, contributing to the improvement of our knowledge of cetaceans in Falkland waters, please record your information on the attached ‘Cetaceans Sighting Recording Form’ and return to Falklands Conservation, The Jetty Centre, Stanley or MP Travel, MPA. We welcome the support of locals, visitors and tourists. If you would like to dedicate more time to dolphin monitoring and get involved with the effort recording, then please contact Falklands Conservation on Tel: 22247, we will be delighted to hear from you.
Happy Cetacean Watching!
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